Empower Under-Resourced Girls in Costa Rica

Dear Friends of Soy Niña,

Today is January 19, 2023. We are celebrating five years of existence! We were officially registered as a nonprofit organization in Costa Rica on January 19, 2018, exactly five years ago. We held a movie screening in January and started our official program that February. We can´t wait to celebrate soon with our girls! 

Many of our girls (we will tell you exactly how many in the next report) have been with us this whole time. This will be their sixth year in our program. This is something that we take pride in: our program is continuous. Girls who enroll in our Girls´ Club (Club Niña) are asked to commit to our program long-term. Our retention rates are high and most of the girls that enroll, stay in the program.

This will be a wonderful year for our organization as we will continue establishing protocols and procedures that must exist before expanding. We are so proud because, thanks to funds from Cummins, we are completing the following:

• We are finally working alongside an active Board of Directors which includes a diverse group of professionals who believe in our mission and will be a great support to expand strategically
• We had our 2021 finance reports audited by a group of well-renowned auditors who also audited many large nonprofit organizations in Costa Rica. Currently, they are auditing our 2022 financials. This will open opportunities for more funding and international grants. 
• We received training in impact evaluation, nonprofit management, mentoring and assessment in a governance plan and human resources
• Much more!

 All of these organizational changes, assessments, procedures, and trainings will allow us to continue impacting the 150 girls currently active in our program and begin to look for the communities to expand to in 2024.

Thank you for your enourmous support and for beliving in Soy Niña. We look forward to the next report in three/four months!

Ana Laura